a) Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally concerned with robotic manipulators and is more particularly directed to a new type of a truly flexible, three degree-of-freedom robotic link which incorporates a plurality of actuators and can be assembled by means of fixed structural joints to other similar links to form a variety of single or multiple robotic trunk(s).
b) Brief Description of the Prior Art
Most of the robotic arms and prostheses presently available make use of rigid links and revolute joints inspired by evolutionary responses observed in the appendicular musculature of tetrapods. There are, however, many robotic tasks which could be handled in a much better way with robotic arms that would be able to move along appropriate smooth space curves to contour obstacles and approach targets with their end-effectors. Such arms can currently be made only in the form of kinematic chains of a multitude of short, articulated rigid links. Such conventional designs require a large number of mechanical parts, which makes the construction of multiple-orientation manipulators relatively costly and heavy, even for manipulators having only two degrees-of-freedom (2 D.O.F.). Therefore, it is highly impractical not to say impossible to devise a chain of individually articulated and motorized, 3 D.O.F., short rigid links capable of mimicking the kinematics of a living trunk using conventional mechanical hardware to do so. Furthermore, the emulation of lifelike dynamics and the mechanical aspects of neuromuscular controls, which both would be very desirable and often essential in many potential robotic applications, are not among the inherent operating features of any conventional electromechanical or fluid power robotic actuator.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved, inexpensive, multiple-orientation robotic trunk or manipulator made from 3 D.O.F. flexible links possessing, inherently, the same lifelike mechanical properties as can be found in the long trunks and neck of living vertebrates such as, for example, fishes and reptiles. Indeed, a self-contained, artificial musculoskeletal trunk or manipulator having such mechanical properties would offer a mechanical solution for a variety of morphologically simple and effective modes of locomotion, such as exhibited by the limbless reptiles, in both aquatic and terrestrial environments.